Leslie Smith is in her second season as an assistant coach with the Shippensburg University Field Hockey team in 2020.
Smith, a USA Level 2 certified coach, joins the Raiders after serving as an assistant at Colby (Me.) College for the 2018 season in which she helped the Mules to their first New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Tournament appearance in five years. At Colby, Smith provided assistance in all aspects of coaching, recruiting, fund-raising, alumni relations and travel arrangements for the team.
She also served two years as an assistant coach at Middlebury (Vt.) College, where she was a part of the 2017 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division III National Coaching Staff of the Year as the Panthers won the NCAA Championship.
Smith also helped the Panthers to the NESCAC championship in 2017. She provided instruction with technical skills, handled all of the team’s film breakdown and assisted with recruiting and social media efforts.
Smith has been active at the club level for more than five years, serving as an assistant coach in Michigan and as a head coach for two teams in Maine. She coached technical skills and tactical concepts to u10-u19 and u16-u19 teams, often leading drills during instruction.
Throughout her career, Smith has been heavily involved in USA Field Hockey. She was a member of the USA u16 International Team in 2009, and has gone on to coach with USA Futures.
As a collegian, Smith was a member of two Big Ten championship teams at Michigan in 2010 and 2011. She earned All-Big Ten First Team honors as a redshirt-senior in 2014 with a team high and career-high 14 goals. Her performance resulted in a selection to play in the 2014 NFHCA Senior All-Star Game. In 2012, her redshirt-sophomore season, Smith earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors.
A two-time NFHCA All-West Region performer, Smith completed her UM career ranked sixth in school history with 30 assists and 12th all-time with 32 goals. She also recorded six defensive saves, including five as a redshirt-sophomore, and led the team with 10 assists as a redshirt-junior.
In addition to her athletic prowess, Smith was named to the All-Big Ten Academic Team three times and was honored as a Student-Athlete Academic Scholar four times. She was selected to speak at Michigan's Student-Athlete Graduation Celebration.
Prior to her collegiate coaching career, Smith taught English in China and worked at a global non-profit organization.
A native of Hershey, Smith graduated from Michigan in 2015 with a degree in general studies.
